


Don't Tell Alya

by zgirlbooop



Series: How to keep a secret [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alya now has a POV, F/M, Identity Reveal, Kitten kisses, POV switches constantly, Prompt Fic, Tumblr Prompt, but mostly it is between Adrien and Marinette, sorry but that's how I tend to write, this is my first fan fication in years
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-05-21 10:56:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6048975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zgirlbooop/pseuds/zgirlbooop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Cat's out of the bag, a simply mistake changes everything. But now that everything is out in the open between Ladybug and Chat Noir. How do they keep it a secret from the Ladyblog?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. No more secrets between a bug and cat

‘Ok, OK…. Ok’ Marinette kept trying to process exactly what was happening to her. She had stumbled into what she thought was an empty building, only to turn around and see a flash of green and Adrien Agreste standing behind her, with what she thought, was an expression very similar to her own.

‘Marinette?’ Adrien asked tentatively, his hand raised as if he wanted to touch her to make sure that his eyes weren’t deceiving him.

Marinette could only squeak in response, all her confidence gone with the red and black suit. She didn’t know how to process what she saw in front of her. Her crazy cat was her sweet crush. Although it did explain a few things, like his occasional puns and flirty smile when he thought no one was watching. She thought it might be similar for Adrien, the times when she wasn’t directly talking to him playing through his mind. Marinette was class president after all, you couldn’t be a nervous wreck all the time if you could stand up to Chloe and take that title.

‘Were we really this blind?’ He asked no one in particular.

'Yes. You really were.’ A black little creature similar looking to Tikki floats in front of Adrien, only to laugh and dive into his bag, she could only presume looking for food as Tikki was doing in her own bag.

Adrien finally looked away from Marinette to glare at the creature. 'You knew?’

'So many questions, little time for answers, maybe you should just talk to her for now.’ Came a muffled reply.

Adrien sighed heavily and ungracefully slid down the wall behind him, Marinette would have joined him if not for the fact she was still frozen in place. She was frantically searching for her Ladybug confidence to deal with what was happening in front of her. Adrien seemed to have gotten over the shock better then she had. But then, he could probably deal with the fact better than her because he had WANTED to find out her identity.

'Do you want to sit?’ Adrien finally spoke, raising his hand to pat the ground beside him.

Tikki looked at the girl and could tell her brain wasn’t working, so as gently as she could she nudged the blue haired girl in the direction of her long time crush.

'Ok.’ She whispered and gingerly walked over to her crush/ partner. She slid down the wall in much the same manner as Adrien and actually found the action comforting. It was a way to slightly release the tension that was building within her. She desperately needed her courage, Ladybug or otherwise, to be able to work through this next conversation.

'This explains why we always seem to vanish at the same time…’ Adrien began, 'also explains that time Ladybug asked me to protect you, and when you didn’t freak out whenever an akuma attacked.’ Adrien rambled 'Although,’ he paused and turned to look at the blue haired girl next to him, a blush was decorating her face as she stared at her hands, 'why can you never seem to have that confidence around me?’ He watched her freeze and the blush deepen on her face. 'I thought that I had upset you somehow, because you could never talk to me.’ Adrien continued looking away from Ladyb- Marinette, he wanted to process this correctly.

This was the only time it could work out, everything after this moment would be affected by other things in their lives. He had a huge crush on Ladybug, no denying that, and he still did, nothing had changed, but he needed to understand Marinette, if she didn’t like him, at all, then there was no hope. He honestly didn’t want to think about that. 'Is it because I model and you design amazing clothes?’ He ignored her sharp intake of breath and plowed on. 'My opinion is they are incredible, so you shouldn’t be nervous about that, and Nino and Alya are fine around me, and you seem fine around them, just me.’ He glanced down at her again to see her fiddling with the strap of her bag. He noticed a small red creature patting her leg gently, a smile on her face as she looked up at Marinette. The Kwami clearly understood what was stressing the poor girl out.

Marinette glanced up at Adrien to see if he had finished speaking, she found it hard to breathe when she heard him compliment her designs. They represented her true self and to hear him say that gave her the confidence she needed. Tikki gently stroking her leg was the reassurance she needed to reply to Adrien, quickly thinking through everything, building up the courage to say what she wanted. It dawned on her that there was a weird circle between the two (four?) of them. Chat Noir loved Ladybug, but Ladybug didn’t return his feelings because Marinette was in love with Adrien, who was Chat Noir. At this point she was eternally great full she had never listened to Alya about confessing to the blonde. She would have had her heart broken because he was in love with her in a red and black suit. What was uncomplicated love anyway? When did anything make sense when you had magical powers of Good and Bad luck.

'Well, Chat,’ she looked up as Adrien directed his attention to her, a look of surprise on his face as she finally didn’t stutter. Ladybug’s confidence shinning though. 'You’re in love with Ladybug, yes?’ He nodded. 'And did you ever really think about why Ladybug never returned your advances?’ She waited as he thought about what she was saying. 'Marinette has no confidence around the person she loves.’ She addressed herself in third person, it was just easier that way. Plus habits die hard.

'So the girl behind the mask loved someone else?’ Adrien asked tentatively

Marinette nodded her head vigorously, she didn’t really know if she was ready to admit her crush, but she knew she had to so they could figure out where to go from there. They could never act the same around each other if they didn’t get this out of the way, no matter how awkward or uncomfortable the subject was. 'Does she still like this person? Do they know?’ He raised an eyebrow at her, a Chat smile gracing his lips.

'I still very much like him. The new information I found out about him does make things complicated. But I do still love him’ she sighed. 'But I don’t know if he knows. Maybe you should ask yourself and answer that question for both of us.’

Adrien’s eyes lit up as Marinette finished her sentence, a blush dominating her face, but her confidence not gone. With Tikki smiling up at her, Marinette knew she had done the right thing, she made her feelings known, and now knew it was up to him as to whether he still was in love with Ladybug, the true Ladybug.

'So,’ he whispered, seemingly as unsure as Marinette had been moments before. 'Ladybug loves Adrien.’ He made it a statement and Marinette could only nod her head once. Holding her breath waiting to see where he was going with this. 'And Chat Noir loves Marinette.’ He breathed her name out gently, also seeming to come to terms with everything that was happening.

Marinette’s eyes snapped up with a huge smile on her face and hope in her eyes. This was going better then she could have hoped.

'Great. You love each other. Now kiss and take me home. There is no more cheese left and I’m not going anywhere near those cookies.’ The grumpy voice complained beside Adrien. The boy just sighed in response.

'Plagg, you know how to kill a moment don’t you?’ Adrien rose steadily to his feet and then offered his hand to Marinette. She could feel his ring against her fingers and smiled. It was the only jewelry he wore, so she could presume it was his miraculous. He smiled gently down at her. A smile she had only ever seen when he was truly happy and relaxed. She was grateful to see it aimed at her. All her dreams coming true in that moment.

'Um,’ Adrien scratched his neck nervously, 'did you want to exchange phone numbers My Lady?’ He didn’t look at her as he used her nickname, a blush finally appearing on his face and not just hers.

Marinette giggled, she couldn’t help it. Here was Adrien, standing in front of her, acting as the perfect mix of her long term crush and long term partner, it brought back reality like nothing else could.

'Of course Kitty, did you want to exchange phones?’ She asked reaching for hers. She knew her wallpaper was of him, but at this point it didn’t matter like it used to.

Things were changing for the better. Adrien’s smile as he saw her background was breathtaking, it was like none of the ones he used while modelling, and different to the one from before. He looked at Marinette with smiles in his eyes and eagerly wrote in his number. She did the same and couldn’t help but add a Ladybug emoji next to her name. It was a silly thing to do, but she knew it would make him happy and remind them of everything that they had been through. When they exchanged phones back, both heroes laughed. It seemed they both had had the same idea. Adrien had put a little black cat with hearts next to a Ladybug alongside his name.

'Smooth.’ Marinette smirked and slid her phone back into her bag, never had she been happier about getting someone’s number.

Adrien grinned in response and then offered Marinette his arm, just as he had tried as Chat Noir in the past, this time though, she took his arm rather than brushing him off. They walked out of the building they had been hiding in with smiles and blushes, both of varying degrees.

'What should we do about our relationship?’ Adrien asked after they had been walking for a few minutes.

Marinette was thoughtful and didn’t response straight away, Adrien had to look down just to make sure his Lady had actually heard him. When he noticed her hand delicately placed on her chin he simply smiled and continued walking. He was heading towards his house. He didn’t want to impose on Marinette in Plagg’s quest for cheese.

'Well, I think, in all honesty, Ladybug’s and Chat Noir’s relationship shouldn’t change.’ Adrien frowned, looking down, he was about to interrupt but Marinette powered through, 'but I want us to be together. We have to keep people off our trail. If we started going out’ she blushes deeply at the thought, 'and then Ladybug and Chat start at the same time, people, like Alya, will get suspicious. And I have enough trouble keeping her off my back as it is.’ Marinette glanced nervously at the boy beside her, trying to gauge his reaction.

He nodded, 'Alright, that makes sense, but’ he looked down to see a worried expression on his Lady’s face. 'We are even going to have to work on us, even as civilians. You couldn’t talk around me until a huge shock forced you too. If you suddenly get over that in one day Alya will also notice that.’

Shock was the response he got, he had to pull gently on Marinette’s arm to get her walking again. She looked deflated. It seemed that finding out each other’s identity was just the start of their problems.

'You’re right.’ She grumbled. She couldn’t just switch her response to the blonde in a day. Things like that didn’t normally happen.

'What if you start tutoring Marinette?’ Tikki offered from Marinette’s jacket.

The Kwami’s were hidden in their coats to hear the conversation, and in Tikki’s case, stay warm. The hero’s looked up from the Kwami with huge grins. Perfect, just the excuse they needed to fix dilemma they found themselves in.

‘Do you mind?’ Marinette gently kicked a rock out of her way, not wanting to get over excited, even if his expression had mirrored her own.

‘Of course I don’t! I get to spend more time with My Lady! Who would argue with that?’ Adrien exclaimed, she could even feel him gently pull away from her, a look of shock and confusion on his face. Though the smile hadn’t left his eyes, which let Marinette breathe a sigh in relief.


	2. Adrien the perfect host

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Safely at Adrien's house, Adrien acts normal while Marinette is still working through it.

‘I’m glad you’re not upset.’ Marinette whispered as they neared Adrien’s house.

‘Why would I be upset?’ the boy inquired, looking down at the girl who was once again full of nerves.

They had been chatting about non-committal things the whole walk back. Adrien noted that Marinette didn’t stutter as much when she didn’t look at him directly. He would have to work on her confidence, but at the moment it wasn’t an issue. In a way, it helped their situation out, it made sense she couldn’t get over all of her nerves in a matter of minutes. Hell, Adrien was having enough trouble processing that the girl who had sat behind him for so long was the hero he was madly in love with. Chasing her over roof-tops, always hoping for some kind of affectionate response, only to be bumped back every time. He couldn’t really image what it must have been like for her. Seeing your crush every day and not being able to act like yourself around them. Although Chat Noir was more flirtatious than Adrien, that didn’t mean his feelings weren’t any less true. He looked down at Marinette with a new found respect. She had survived siting behind him and not exploding. He found that he didn’t think he would have lasted quite the same way.

‘Well,’ she continued, though it seemed that she had wished he hadn’t heard her. ‘I didn’t know how Chat would react. I mean, he loves Ladybug and I’m not as confident or refined (?) as her.’ Marinette looked up to try and see how he reacted to what she just admitted, and he couldn’t blame her. Adrien had similar fears. Would people still like him if he acted as he did when he was Chat?

‘Well My Lady,’ He still wanted to use that nickname, it connected both girls into one person. ‘I think it’s safe to say by this point that I’m not upset.’ He smiled as he spoke, a mix of the gentle Adrien and the flirtatious Chat Noir.

Marinette just rolled her eyes, a completely Ladybug-like response, but the blush that dusted her cheeks was uniquely Marinette. Adrien then realized, he was so happy and relieved that Marinette was Ladybug, and not someone like Chloe, like Alya had theorized.

‘Just so you know Marinette, I really am glad that it’s you.’ Adrien revealed. Glad to get something like that in the open between the two of them. He could feel that the girl beside him lacked courage around him and he desperately wanted to give her the confidence that came with her suit while she was out of it.

‘I’m glad it’s you too.’ She smiled and briefly looked up at him, relief lighting her face.

He couldn’t help his next action, Chat Noir’s mind set coming to the fore front of his mind, as he lifted his partner off the ground in a bear hug and swung her around gently. Laughing in pure joy at the fact that he knew Ladybug, and knew her well enough that things would work out between them. The fact that they were already tentative friends being a huge advantage that he hadn’t been counting on. The girl in his arms giggled nervously but held on easily, trusting him.

‘I hope you don’t mind coming back to my house. I didn’t want to impose on you in Plagg’s demand for cheese.’ Adrien offered as he helped Marinette vault over the back wall.

‘It’s fine, I don’t have to be home for a while anyway.’ Marinette turned and help Adrien over and then the two walked towards the back of the building, casually holding hands. Neither of the teens really registering the act.

The teens quickly transformed out of sight and climbed into Adrien’s room. Marinette felt better now that she was transformed. She felt her confidence return and she couldn’t be happier. Even though Chat Noir, who had de-transformed and was already on the hunt for cheese, knew who she really was. It didn’t change how she acted within the suit. But her spurt of confidence was short lived when she actually started to take in her surroundings.

‘Whaaaaat?’

The room she was in was probably bigger than her home. Including the Bakery that was downstairs. She knew logically that this wasn’t the case, but the room was far too big for Adrien to have all to himself. The couch alone was big enough for a couple of people to sleep on it. Directly to her right were multiple game consoles, all containing what she could only presume (and hope) were different games. Above her stared back the largest collection of books she had seen outside of a library. To her left, against the back wall she could presume was a skate ramp that was connected to a rock climbing wall (that helped to explain is climbing abilities). What took her breathe away the most was the giant screen sitting above the row of three computer screens that sat near his bed. She thought she had been lucky to have been given such a lovely computer to play her games on for her birthday. She didn’t know what to think now seeing the display in front of her. She didn’t know how long she had been standing there. Just trying to take in everything that was in front of her. But when Adrien came back into the room looking around nervously to find her did she realize she hadn’t moved from the shadows near the window.

‘Your room is…’ she didn’t know how to finish the sentence. She couldn’t comprehend this. Adrien Agreste being Chat Noir, sure, no problem, put that on under “Thing that make sense” but this? Why does one person need a room this big?

‘Huge, I know.’ Adrien sighed, he should have been prepared for something like this. He had been in Marinette’s room to practice for the gaming tournament. Her room had been of a more reasonable size, the room expressed who she was. His room expressed how much money his dad made.

Adrien watched as Ladybug finally turned to look at him, an unreadable expression on her face. He couldn’t properly see her face, so he couldn’t tell what her eyes might be saying. But she finally moved, not far, only to collapse on the couch, but at least she was away from the window. He watched in concern as she placed her hands over her face and just breathed deeply. Adrien didn’t know how to feel, he gently placed the cheese and cookies he had gotten from the kitchen on his table. He nodded in response to Plagg’s grumble before he walked over to the couch. Ladybug was gently shaking her head, he could occasionally see her lips moving but couldn’t hear any sound. So he just sat down beside her and waited. He looked out the window, not wanting to make Ladybug feel awkward by staring. But really that’s all he wanted to do, he desperately wanted to see the connections between Ladybug and Marinette. The girl had so much courage, only he had never truly seen it before, because it had always been hidden behind a mask.

‘I,’ Ladybug finally spoke, removing one of her hands and glancing at Adrien from the side. Nothing else in her posture changed. ‘I am sorry I’m kind of having this moment here rather then at home.’ She waved her hand around, trying to express what was going on through her mind. It was now that he could finally see the emotions running through his Lady.

She was scared and confused, but he could also detect happiness. He couldn’t blame her, he still couldn’t fully accepting the situation either. It had felt that while they were in a public setting that they had to act a certain way. Now that they were in a private place, true emotions could run wild. He only hoped that they truly did come out the other end still a team.

‘Is there anything I can do to help?’ Adrien asked nervously.

Ladybug just shrugged her shoulders and then did something neither were truly expecting her to do. She un-transformed as she fell into Adrien’s lap. Her eyes were closed as her head hit his lap. Tikki just floated up from the girl, a soft smile on her face as she glanced at Marinette.

‘Thank you for the cookies.’ Tikki politely said before flying off the join Plagg on the computer table.

Adrien tried to ignore the talking Kwami’s, he imagined it had been a long time since they had last seen each other and probably needed to catch up. Although Adrien thought he could hear something about cheese and then a slight thunk.

‘I don’t know what to do.’ Marinette whispered after a few moments.

Adrien had gotten the courage to gently place his hand on Marinette’s head and toy with the loose strands of hair. He couldn’t believe that he could finally touch Ladybug, not that he hadn’t, being a team had provided times were touch was inevitable. But to be able to do something as simple as touch her hair had never arisen. Ladybug would never have allowed it.

‘What do you mean?’ Adrien didn’t know if she was actually asking a question, but ignoring her was impossible.

She shifted onto her back and just stared up at him. His hand fell from her hair, he didn’t really know where to put it so he just placed in beside her on the couch. She didn’t say anything, she just stared at him. He didn’t know what she was looking for. He just stayed still, not wanting to distract her or disturb what she was doing. Slowly, before she realized what she was doing, she was lifting her hand, and gently placed it against his face. He froze and a blush quickly dominated his face. No one had done something so casually before, generally people were too nervous to come near him. As Chat he had tried so many times to get Ladybug to see him and now she was in his lap, just staring at him, her face un-readable once again.

‘You’re the crazy Chat who drove me up the wall by flirting all the time, but you’re also Adrien who I never thought I could properly talk to.’ She replied, she sounded like she was in a daze.

 _She is probably in shock_ Adrien thought. Her reaction in the empty building could only attest to that. She was clearly having a lot more trouble accepting this than he was.

He laughed lightly taking her hand from his face. He didn’t know how to react to the girl in his lap, she wasn’t Ladybug nor was she Marinette. This was a girl who was confused and probably feeling alone.

‘Adrien’ Tikki fly close to Adrien’s head as he lowered Marinette’s hand back to her side. ‘Is it ok if Marinette stays on your couch tonight? I don’t want her being alone.’ Tikki noticed Adiren’s slight head movement, agreeing with the Kwami. ‘Her parents aren’t home at the moment because they are on holiday and will not return until tomorrow afternoon.’ Tikki looked down at her charge. She appeared to be in her own world, but present enough to hear Tikki talking though, as a delicate frown covered her face.

‘What time is it?’ she finally seemed to be coming back to her senses.

‘1:22am’ Plagg answered from the computer table. Adrien could see that Plagg had hit the mouse to active the monitors.

Marinette bolted upright from where she was sitting and much to Adrien’s surprise vaulted over the couch and dashed over to the computer. He panicked when he remembered that his desktop background was a picture of Ladybug, but she didn’t even pause as she hunted for a web page and typed in the URL for the Ladyblog.

‘What’s wrong?’ Adrien nervously walked over to his computer.

Marinette seemed agitated and he didn’t fully understand why. He could see that she was madly reading what Alya had written about their fight from earlier in the day. Which felt like years ago, so many things had happened since then.

‘Alya was in the thick of the fight, just before we could finally cleanse the Akuma, Alya looked like she had been hurt. I am checking to make sure that she was healed when everything was restored.’ Marinette threw over her shoulder as she continued to read the post.

Adrien merely nodded his head in understanding and looked over her shoulder, also wanting to make sure that no one had been left injured. After the battle the two heroes had had to make a quick escape. Their Mircaculous beeping rapidly as time ran out. They had spent too much time answering questions and making sure that everyone was alright before they fled. It had been what lead to a rather unsuspecting reveal. It turned out that Adrien was a faster reader than Marinette and finished the article before her. It thankfully reported that everyone was indeed fine and that it looked like everything had been perfectly restored. Alya finished the post by thanking the heroes on a personal level. It had appeared she had been more injured then Adrien had been aware of.

‘Thank goodness she is alright.’ Marinette breathed a sigh of relief and finally fell into the desk chair. She clicked on the video link that had been posted and quietly watch the fight. It had not been a pleasant one. The fact that other people got hurt was a sign of that.

Both heroes flinched when either got thrown harshly around or when someone got hurt. They clearly saw how Alya and a few other people were injured. Marinette’s face changed to a horrified expression and so Adrien simply put his hand on her shoulder. Understanding how she felt as he also had to watch Nino get hurt.

‘I am so glad everything gets fixed once its over.’ Adrien commented as the fight drew to a close and everything was restored.

The camera angle switched back to Alya as she examined her self and everyone around her for injuries, again personally thanking the heroes for saving and healing them. Marinette just nodded and stared at the now black screen. She could see her own reflection and noticed that she was incredibly pale and breathing quickly. She looked over to Adrien who still rested his hand reassuringly on her shoulder and watched as he moved towards the mouse. She stayed silent as he scrolled through the comments. Lots of people were giving their thanks, whether for themselves or those important to them.

‘Are you hungry or thirsty?’ Adrien asked once they had finished scrolling through the comments. Judging from them no one had been permanently injured and both heroes relaxed visibly from the news.  

‘More t-thirsty I think, I don’t think I could hold food down right now.” Marinette answered honestly. She was glancing over at Adrien’s bed, tempted to lay on it and just not move for a while.

Adrien followed her line of sight and gestured for her to go ahead, without a second glance she moved over to the side closest to the wall and fell face first into the bed. Adrien winced a little in response, surely that had hurt, but she didn’t move, a contented sight could be heard as Adrien again left his room, once again on the hunt for food and drinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A longer chapter this time, I know where I'm going with this story, just a matter of getting there!


	3. Slumber Party (not really)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Adrien continues to be a gentleman and Plagg is Plagg

‘Are you over the shock yet?’ Plagg asked the girl left on Adrien’s bed. The Kwami’s had known a long time ago, he had found it amusing to hear that they loved each other in different forms. Tikki had a slightly different response though.

‘Plagg.’ Tikki harshly hit him as she flew over to gently pat the blue haired girl on the head.

‘What?’ Plagg rubbed his little arm and followed Tikki over to the girl, all the cheese had been eaten so there was no reason to hang around there anymore.

He looked down on the pair of girls in front of him, watching as Tikki tried to coax a response out of her chosen one. At first she seemed to just ignore Tikki, which annoyed Plagg. The Kwami was trying to help the girl and here she was ignoring his trusted friend.

‘No I’m not over it yet. Thanks for asking.’ Came Marinette’s sharp reply.

The grin that covered Plagg’s face looked devious as he flew down into the line of sight of the girl. As he came into site, he noticed the blue haired girl looked straight past Tikki to focus on him. Tikki sighed and sat down on Marinette’s head. She knew her presence alone was helping Marinette. Normally when things like this happened the girl refused to speak, the fact she was speaking at all was a good sign.

‘And why’s that?’ Plagg asked as he floated in front of her. He hadn’t talked to another person in a long time. He deserved to have a little fun.

‘Oh I don’t know,’ she raised her hand to rotate it casually, ‘The guy you have a crush on, who you can’t form two words around, just SO happens to be the crazy cat who never seems to leave you alone.’ She openly glared at Plagg as he snickered. ‘When you find that out you have to acknowledge the fact that you could never get with your crush because he loves you with a mask on. So you start to panic. Which side does he like? Does he even know you out of the mask? Does he think you’re a total spaz because you can’t even say “boo” in front of him?’ she continued glaring as Plagg grim only widened.

‘I don’t think you’re a spaz’ Adrien’s voice gently came from behind her.

Marinette squawked and spun around on the bed to face the blonde boy. She hadn’t heard him come back in the room. She first noticed he was holding a plate of snacks and had two bottles of water tucked under his arm. She didn’t get past there though; she didn’t think she could handle looking at his face. She didn’t know what possible expression could be displayed across his perfect features.

‘I honestly thought you were just incredibly shy, I mean, like I said earlier, you’re fine around others, just not me.’ Adrien climbed onto his bed and gently placed the plate down between them, for once he was glad his bed was so big, and held out one of the drink bottles to his blushing partner.

He could see that she would shoot glares in Plagg’s direction and he could only presume that her outburst had been caused by him. He was mildly thankful though, because it helped him understand why she was so shy. She had mentioned that she liked him, but he still hadn’t really put two and two together until that moment. Marinette was refusing to look at him, which he was used to, but he didn’t really know what to do. Besides talking about their alter egos, what could they talk about?

‘You should both go to sleep soon, you have school in the morning and its already 2:30am.’ Tikki spoke atop of Marinette’s head. She looked at both heroes with an understanding look, she too had been shooting glares at Plagg when Adrien had reentered the room.

Marinette nodded and thanked Adrien for the food and drink and slowly got off his bed, placing the now empty plate on top of the previous plate on her way to the couch. Adrien quickly jumped up and dashed over to his cupboard, looking for a pillow and blankets for Marinette.

 

Getting Marinette to bed was easy, trying to wake her up was another story. She was determined to not wake up, she would simply roll over or move around on the couch avoiding him. Multiple times he glanced up at Tikki, hoping that the Kwami would be able to help him, she simply shrugged and moved away sighing loudly. It seemed that this wasn’t an unusual occurrence. Adrien sighed once more and quickly glanced at the clock, granted he hadn’t had much sleep, finally having his moment to stress about everything, it didn’t change the fact they did have school and she still needed to go home and at least freshen up for the day.

‘Marinette, please’ he whined as he gently shook her shoulder for what felt like the 100th time in the last 5 minutes.

‘Go away Tikki.’ She groaned trying to cover her head with the blanket.

‘I’m not Tikki.’

Her eyes finally shot open as she registered what he said, he waited as her eyes darted around the room trying to figure out where she was before they landed on him. When she finally remembered where she was, the only sound that emerged with a strangled scream as she managed to climb over the back of the couch and hide, only the top of her head and eyes peaking out over the top.

‘Morning’ Adrien couldn’t help but lightly laugh at her actions, a completely Marinette thing to do.

‘G-G-Good Morning A-Adrien.’ She mustered. She didn’t take her eyes off him, it seemed she had returned to her normal self.

Adrien smiled and moved around the couch, gently holding her under the arm and bringing her up to a standing position. ‘I’m sorry, but I thought you would like a chance to get home and freshen up before school started. Otherwise I would have let you keep sleeping.’ Adrien explained.

Marinette blushed and simply nodded, Tikki thankfully came over to the duo and smiled gently at Marinette.

‘Ready?’ she asked simply.

Marinette nodded her head again and summoned her transformation. Adrien stood by watching as he could physically see her demeanor change. He could see the confidence that came with her suit returning and it was a breath taking sight.

‘Thank you for letting me stay the night Chat,’ Ladybug started moving towards the window with legs that were a little shakier then normal, but still holding all the courage of a hero of Paris ‘I’ll see you at school.’

And like that she was gone, Adrien couldn’t help but slouch a little at her retreating figure as he moved to close his window. It had been a nerve wracking night, knowing that the love of his life was laying just meters away from him. He found that he was truly relieved it was Marinette, even though he had felt that he needed to reassure her, he did truly mean it. Marinette could be just as confidence out of the suit, he had seen her stand up to Chloe and take charge many times in the past when Akuma’s had attacked. She had stared danger in the face and didn’t flinch, he knew he couldn’t wish for anyone better then Marinette to be his partner. Now they just had to work on her being comfortable around Adrien.

‘You’re going to be late too if you don’t stop day dreaming.’ Plagg warned from the computer desk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly shorter chapter because last one was longer and it would be been awkward to cut it anywhere else :)


	4. Plan: Tutor Marinette

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tick's plan finally gets put into action.

Adrien made it to school on time as usual, Gorilla dropping him off outside of school at the same time as any other day. Waiting for him was Nino who waved happily at the sight of his best friend. Adrien waved right back and subtly tried looking around for Marinette, or Alya as the two were normally together at school. He spotted the top of Alya’s head poking over the top of the stair case at the entrance of the school, clearly talking to someone who was completely out of view. Adrien sighed quietly, at least that was a sign that Marinette had at least made it to school on time.

‘Is Alya talking to the plants?’ Adrien asked casually as they walked up the stairs, Nino had noticed Alya as well and just raised an eyebrow in question.

‘Alya who you talkin' to?’ Nino asked walking over to the edge of the railing and looking down.

‘Marinate. Obviously.’ Alya just shook her head and turned her attention back to the still hiding girl.

‘Is anything wrong?’ Adrien inquired as he moved to stand near Nino, he was concerned Marinette might have hurt herself or something on the way home.

Adrien heard Marinette squeak and by the time he was beside Nino he could see that she was hiding behind Alya. His concern about her acting differently now that they knew each other seemed irrelevant. The 2 hours they had spent apart seemed to have just made things weirder between the two. Alya sighed heavily and reached around to drag the shaking girl out from behind her. Adrien noticed she had something clasped in her hands. When he looked up to her face he noticed she quickly hid the item behind her back and waved awkwardly. Adrien smiled gently and waved back, glad that she could at least do something as simple as that still.

‘Marinette wanted to give Adrien a late congratulations gift on his recent photo shoot, but she forgot and only remembered now.’ Alya explained lightly glaring and shaking her head at her best friend.

‘Oh that’s cool! Did you make it?’ Nino seemed excited at the idea of Marinette giving Adrien a gift, which Adrien didn’t fully understand, why would he be excited?

Marinette nodded simply and jerked her hands out in front of her, holding the gift up to Adrien with her head bowed between her arms. She didn’t say anything but just gently waved the present up and down. Alya shook her head again and gently tapped Marinette a bit further forward, making it easier for Adrien to reach down and grab the box, giving his thanks and nodding in Alya’s direction. Once the box left Marinette’s hands her head shot up nervously. He turned to Nino not quite sure what to do, Nino just shrugged and motioned for him to open it.

Inside was a pure black beanie, at first he looked at it confused. It wasn’t until he held it up and noticed it had cat hears attached did a huge grin cover Adrien’s face. He looked past the beanie to Marinette who smiled nervously back.

‘I-I-I,’ she paused and took a deep breathe. ‘I heard you liked Chat Noir.’

Alya patted Marinette on the back and gave her a big thumbs up and before starting to drag her around the stairs to properly talk to the boys. Alya noticed that the smile never left Adrien’s face, she was glad, her friend never really seemed to smile freely.

‘This is amazing! Thank you!’ Adrien quickly tucked the box away into his bag but held onto the beanie, it was so soft. He had never received a gift like this so he didn’t want to let it go. The fact that it was made for him by Ladybug only strengthened the need to hold it in his hands. As if to make sure that it was real.

Marinette turned to Alya with a huge grin on her face, nerves forgotten for the moment as relief took its place. She turned back to Adrien still smiling and simply brushed off his thanks, saying he deserved it and that she hoped it would help in the ever approaching winter.

‘I didn’t know you could knit like this Marinette! You got to make me one! It looks so warm!’ Nino exclaimed, looking at the blue haired girl with an expression of amazement.   


Nino was surprised though that when he tried to touch the beanie that Adrien moved it out of his grasp, he looked up in surprise to see a very defensive look on the boys face. Nino’s brows furrowed in response and Adrien quickly realized his mistake and held out the beanie for his friend to touch.

‘I only learnt recently.’ Marinette explained, no stutter present as she wasn’t looking at Adrien.

‘She made me one to test her skills! It’s so cool! It’s a Ladybug design but she slipped the Ladyblog symbol onto it!’ Alya teased Nino as she elbowed him in the side.

Nino turned accusing eyes to Marinette. She took a little step back throwing her hands in front of her and quickly promised to make him a beanie. Nino simply nodded and slung his arm around her shoulders with a grin on his face and a guarantee to hold her to her promise. Adrien smiled and turned around to head into the building, school was about to start and after all the effort Adrien went to make sure him and Marinette weren’t late, he was going to make sure they were at least in the building when the warning bells rang.

 

Class was long and boring, Adrien could feel Marinette staring at the back of his head. He had to constantly resist the urge to turn around and try and talk to her. He wasn’t aware if she had always stared, but now with all the new information he had, it just made concentrating on his school work all the harder. At least the tutoring excuse would work better now. They would probably have to work together just to figure out what happened in class in the first place. At the end of the day the four friends walked together to find a place to sit down and eat and study.

Marinette kept glancing at Adrien, she didn’t really mean to, more from habit than anything by this point. But she still loved him dearly and so desperately hoped that he really did like her. That she really did live up to the expectations he had from Ladybug. There was nothing worse than being a disappointment to her most trusted partner and her crush. Thankfully Alya just left her alone for the most part. She hoped her best friend thought she was just freaking out over the fact that she had successfully given him the beanie.

It was weird looking at the beanie now gently placed on his head. It wasn’t cold enough to warrant wearing a beanie, but the grin she occasionally caught on his face showed he truly loved it. Once he caught her staring and he gave her a quick thumbs up and an extremely Chat Noir-like wink. Marinette made an unrecognizable noise and subtly moved more towards Alya. Her only reaction was a raised eyebrow as she returned to her conversation with Nino.

‘So,’ Adrien began after while, ‘How is everyone going with Physics?’ He asked casually, he really wanted to start up the excuse that Tikki had given them. He didn’t really know how long he would last being around Marinette/ Ladybug and not act the way he so desperately wanted to.

Alya shrugged, not really paying much attention, a reaction that Adrien was expecting. Nino just waved his hands in front of his face, as always trying to avoid homework and never acknowledge the fact he had to study. Marinette’s reaction surprised him though, her head fell and slammed onto the table. Both Nino and Adrien jumped in response while Alya just sighed and placed a reassuring hand on her back. It seemed that Marinette really did have trouble. She might actually need his help after all.

‘You ok Marinette?’ Nino asked nervously, his hands still raised in defense from Marinette’s action.

Grumbles were the only response that came from the girl. Marinette still didn’t lift her head to rejoin the conversation. If anything it looked like she was only going to raise it to slam her head down again. Before Marinette could slam her head down for a third time though Adrien shoved his hands under her head. He couldn’t bare the thought of her hitting her head again. When her head hit his hands it _hurt_ , she had been hitting the table harder then he thought she was.

‘How was that not hurting?’ He finally exclaimed after Marinette didn’t lift her head for a fourth round.

‘It does hurt, I’m trying to make myself forget that I have Physics’ Marinette grumbled.

He could only guess that she didn’t realize it was his hands under her head, or else she wouldn’t have responded so easily. Marinette slowly moved her head in his hands and looked up at him with a slight blush but Ladybug confidence in her eyes. Adrien felt himself gasp and lean backwards, having a physical reaction to that look like he did as Chat. He didn’t think he would see it on Marinette so soon and he found he loved it.

‘Well, I could tutor you if you wanted?’ Adrien asked quickly, trying to cover his reaction to the girl whose head still rested in his hands, though she had moved to a more comfortable position, taking advantage of his hands and using them as a pillow.

‘Sure’ she grumbled again, he could feel her gently move her head and he couldn’t tell if he was blushing or not.

Adrien noticed Alya elbow Marinette with a big grin on her face and the blue haired girl gave a reaction he couldn’t see, but she did finally take her head out of his hands. She reached over to grab her text book and placed it in front of her. He watched as she nervously started to play with her pencil and he couldn’t help but gently smile at her.

‘Where do you want to start?’


	5. School Times

A few hours later and it really did look feel like Marinette was getting the hang of it. She still didn’t understand all of it but the basics were starting to make sense which was a huge achievement. Nino and Alya had left earlier, both explaining that they had other things that they needed to do. Adrien had left at one point to take a call, she presumed to explain where he was before he quickly came back and continued to tutor Marinette. During their study session Adrien had moved to Marinette’s side of the table and the two had their knees and elbows touching. Marinette had blushed like mad at first and her stuttering had come back in full force much to her embarrassment.

Thankfully though Adrien had just ignored it and worked around it, an understanding look in his eyes as he waited for his Lady to calm down. He wanted this to work, so desperately he wanted this to work, and making her more embarrassed would only slow things down. Being patient was going to have be a skill he needed while outside of his suite. As it was clear that all of hers came while she was in it.

‘Would you like to come over for dinner?’ Marinette asked casually as the two heroes finally packed up their books.

Adrien’s head shot up quickly, he had been dreading going home, knowing that he would be eating alone like always and not really wanting to end his time with Marinette. But he didn’t expect such an offer as dinner.

‘Are you sure?’ He asked nervously, turning away from the girl, trying to hide his excited expression.

‘Of course silly kitty, you have helped me so much, it’s the least I can do.’ Adrien could hear the smile in her voice. ‘Besides, I think Papa would love another person to feed, he mentioned something about a new item for the bakery he was testing. The more guinie pigs the better.’

Adrien turned to see Marinette shrugging casually as she slipped her on her backpack, he could vaguely see Tikki in her top pocket. She waved at Adrien and burrowed into Marinette’s jacket, seeing shelter from the outside world.

‘I would love to come over!’ Adrien bounced his way over to Marinette and starting bopping up and down waiting for her to start leading the way.

Marinette just rolled her eyes and headed for the exit. A Chat Noir grin covered his face at his Lady’s actions.

 

Adrien found that once they entered the bakery Marinette’s demeanor changed, it shifted slightly so she wasn’t 100% as confident as she was as Ladybug, nor was she as nervous as she was at school. It was incredible to see his Lady finally being able to relax in his presence.

As they entered the bakery, Adrien was bombarded with many different scents. And he found that he loved every single one. He never had known what a ‘homely’ smell was, but he figured this was it. There was no way that someone couldn’t feel at home as they walked through the front door. Looking around he saw that the bakery was mostly empty, but he figured that was because business was done for the day. Although the store was mostly empty, it didn’t alleviate the heavenly aroma that covered the it.

‘You ok?’ Marientte asked as she turned to look back at Adrien, he didn’t know what expression was displayed there.

‘Yea.’

‘The house is up this way, I can smell Mama already has dinner cooked, so they are probably just waiting for us to come upstairs.’ Marinette pointed over her shoulder at the stairs at the back of the room.

Adrien merely nodded and followed his Lady, he was so glad to see that she wasn’t stuttering or struggling to talk to him. It helped relax him like nothing else. He knew he would come here often, both to try all the delicious food as well as to help relax his most trusted partner.

 

Dinner was a huge success. Though Adrien didn’t have many other occasions to compare it to. But throughout the whole meal there was laughter and conversation, something he wasn’t used to, but wanted to be apart of forever. Going back to a quite dinning table would be horrible. Marinette had completely relaxed and had no problem teasing Adrien, something he found utterly refreshing. Marinette’s parents accepted him with open arms, something he felt he would be eternally grateful for. Tom couldn’t believe Adrien ate alone, and so had offered to always feed the boy when he was over to tutor Marinette.

Adrien couldn’t believe their generosity. The dessert they presented was the best Adrien had ever eaten, although he mainly felt that it was because of the true love and joy that seeped from the food. Not like what he ate at home, which was more based on necessity than pleasure. He knew he would be back just to taste the desserts again. He knew this place was more home then the building he would eventually have to return to.

 

\--- 1 week later ---

Marinette trudged up the stairs to school, last night had been rough with a midnight akuma attack that had left both herself and Adrien beaten, bruised and utterly exhausted.

Once the battle had finished the news reporters came out in drones, Marinette was even surprised to see that Alya had managed to sneak out and get some footage. The akuma had been similar to Dark Cupid, but worse if it was even possible. Although thankfully this time Chat Noir stayed on her side, much to both of their relief. But it had resulted in an all out brawl over the city with people being seriously injured.

The Miraclous cure had done its job of healing everyone, but that didn’t mean they still didn’t feel the after affects. And it turned out that such a huge restoration actually could take its toll on Ladybug. Once they had finally escapes the reporters Marinette, not Ladybug, just collapsed into Chat Noir’s arms. She figured he must have taken her home and tucked her into bed, because she sure had no other idea how she got there when she finally came to.

‘Mari! Are you ok?’

Marinette turned slowly to see blonde hair rushing towards her. Once she processed the that the moving object was her kitty, she smiled gently and lifted her hand to wave in greeting and acknowledgment. The concern that was on Adrien’s face was obvious, he didn’t try to hide it at all as he rushed over to her. She could feel stares from others but didn’t bother registering them. It had been well known that Marinette could finally interact with Adrien. Something she was super grateful for.

‘Are you ok?’ Adrien asked again as he came within arms reach, she thought he wanted to hug her but noticed he didn’t.

‘I’m just tired.’ Marinette waved her hand again, as if the action would be explanation enough.

Adrien’s look of concern deepened when he noticed Marinette could barely keep her eyes open, she looked like she could fall asleep standing up, something he hadn’t thought possible.

‘You should have stayed home and slept.’

Marinette shook her head and slowly turned back around to start heading up into the school. She had thought about it, and even Tikki had voiced it would be a good idea to rest. But Marinette didn’t want to worry her family with her exhaustion. So she had gotten herself ready for school and walked out the door. She knew Tikki was just as exhausted and so had made the extra effort to sneak cookies into her bag and pack a scarf that the Kwami could use as a bed.

Marinette could feel Adrien hovering beside her and it didn’t help her feel better. She kept glancing at him only to see concern deeply in his eyes and a nervous set to his shoulders. She couldn’t resist but sigh heavily and try to straighten her own shoulders. She had to at least _look_ like she wasn’t sleeping on her feet.

‘I’ll be fine Adrien, don’t worry.’

Adrien didn’t believe her, but did notice that when she was this exhausted her stuttering and nervousness that being around him brought out vanished. Something he was thankful for, though he honestly didn’t think she even had the energy to be nervous, which was more worrying.

Adrien opened the classroom door for Marinette and let her in, he watched nervously as she plonked down at her table and just let her head fall onto the desk, a quite ‘ow’ quickly followed. Adrien couldn’t help but wince, he even noticed a couple other people in his class mimic his actions.

‘Did you see the fight last night?!’ Alya exclaimed bouncing on her toes as she rushed over to her best friend. Alya for once being later then Marinette.


	6. Chloe is Jealous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette is still exhausted, Adrien is a pall and Chloe is jealous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's taken me so long to update this! Uni + Work + Health = crazy time.  
> I have edited this a few times but my editing isn't the best so I'm sorry if it's difficult to read.

Marinette turned her head slightly to evaluate her friend, she hadn’t had a chance to properly look her over before running off and passing out. Marinette took note of the fact that Alya was full of more energy then normal after an akuma attack, which she thought in a way, was a good thing. Alya had a slight red mark on her chin, which took all of Marinette’s control not to wince at. Even though Alya was talking to her, Marinette didn’t have to respond or contribute to the conversation which was nice, until…

  
‘I actually managed to see Chat Noir running across the rooftops with someone in his arms! I thought it was Ladybug but the person was passed out. I have never seen Chat Noir so frantic! I almost got a photo but he moved to quickly. He was headed towards the school!’ Alya looked like she was ready to pop with this new information. It sure explained why she was so full of energy.

  
Marinette and Adrien froze, and it took all of Adrien’s will power to not look at his Lady in concern. He had indeed been heading towards the school, because it was close to where Marinette lived. He had panicked when she had collapsed in his arms, un-transforming at the same time. Thankfully Tikki had given a quick explanation as to what happened before she too fell asleep from exhaustion.

  
‘Do you think the person was badly hurt?’ Nino asked as he placed his bag on the ground and took his seat next to Adrien.

  
Alya shook her head furiously, clearly wanting to defend Paris’ heroes. ‘No, I don’t think he would have been heading to the school if the person was badly injured. You would hope he would have taken them to the hospital if that was the case.’ Alya placed a hand on her chin as she tried to figure out what situation would have put that expression on Chat Noir’s face.

  
‘Maybe Ladybug had changed back?’ Marinette tried.

  
This time Adrien couldn’t resist staring at her. She was giving away information like that so easily? He thought they didn’t want Alya to find out about their identities. But as Adrien glanced up at Alya, he saw her subtly shaking her head.

  
‘No, they have made it clear that they don’t know each other. I think he was just helping someone get home after the attack.’

  
Adrien watched as Marinette just shrugged her shoulders and slowly lifted her head off the table. She glanced at Adrien quickly and to his great surprise (and delight), Marinette gave him an entirely Ladybug-like wink. He relaxed as he realized she had done that on purpose. Making Alya think the truth was false.

  
‘But why near the school? Maybe we know the person he was carrying!’ Alya’s next round of excitement began, but was quickly cut off as the school day began.

  
Something that both Adrien and Marinette were thankful for. She might not believe that the person was actually Ladybug, but there was no denying that Chat Noir indeed had been heading in the general direction of the school.

‘What are you guys planning on doing this weekend?’ Nino asked as he slung his bag over his shoulder.

  
Adrien pulled out his phone to look at his calendar, as much as he hated seeing his life planned out for him, having it on his phone did help him make his own plans around it. ‘I’m free Saturday afternoon!’ He looked up excitedly to see Nino give him a thumbs up in response.

  
‘I am free Saturday afternoon, but will have to make it back before dinner to look after my siblings.’ Alya thoughtfully explained as she looked over to Marinette, who once again, had just woken up from a nap on her desk.

  
‘I’m free.’

  
Adrien watched with concern as he observed her sluggishly pack her bag.

  
‘Need help?’ He couldn’t have stopped himself asking, it was painful watching how slowly she was moving.

  
Marinette shook her head but did start to move faster. He noticed a scarf in her bag and a slight red dot poking out and presumed that it was Tikki, he was a little relieved to see that at least her Kwami had been able to rest during the day. Although as he looked closer he also noticed a black head as well next to the red. Anger flashed over his face as he realized his kwami had snuck over to Marinette’s bag during the day. He prayed that no one had seen the little god.

  
Marinette noticed Adrien’s glare and followed it to see the new body that was in her bag. She had heard the two whispering throughout the day and so had subtly nudged her bag closer to Adrien’s. Giving the cat Kwami his chance to slip in. She had reasoned it would be better that the two were together rather then making noise throughout the whole day.  
Marinette looked up at Adrien and smiled gently and shook her head as she hauled her back over her shoulder, trying her best not to jostle the Kwami’s inside.

  
‘They were making too much noise.’ Marinette whispered as she passed him to leave the room.

  
Adrien nodded and followed her out, he could sense Nino and Alya following behind, but they were completely engrossed in their own conversation. Adrien gently took hold of Marinette’s arm when he noticed her wobble slightly from exhaustion. Even though she had been sneaking naps all day, it didn’t really help restore her energy. Marinette smiled sweetly and even leaned into him gently. He smiled happily and started to properly lead the way out of the school. They had almost made it out safely until Chloe appeared out of no where.

  
‘How DARE you touch MY Adrien!’

  
Marinette jerked away from Adrien at the noise and started to panic. She was now wide awake and her Ladybug sense of danger had kicked into over drive at the sound of Chloe’s scream. The blonde girl was marching up to them and Marinette could see the anger burning behind her eyes. Marinette didn’t really want to deal with this today, but she knew it was too late now.

  
‘Back up Chloe! Adrien was helping Marinette!’ Alya rushed to Marinette’s defense.

  
Adrien observed as Nino and Alya placed themselves in front of Marinette. He glanced down at his partner to see that her demeanor had changed to a defensive one. Marinette looked back up to him and simply mouthed the word ‘akuma’. Adrien blinked, hoping it would be signal enough that he understood the situation that they would soon face. Marinette slowly reached into her bag and poked the Kwami’s, Marinette felt Tikki brush her hand, she looked down to see that Plagg was quickly moving up the back of her arm. The look of frustration on his face un-miss-able.

  
‘Adrien wouldn’t lower himself to someone of Marinette’s standard!’ Chloe crossed her arms over her chest and simply stamped her foot, trying to prove a point.  
‘And what standard is that?’ Marinette pushed forward, all confidence and no fatigue.

  
Everyone watching wasn’t surprised to see Marinette stand up for herself, this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. But Adrien was surprised to see that it was actually Ladybug who pushed forward, though no one had been close enough to the spotted hero to notice the slight difference.

  
‘Am I on the same level as you? Someone who steals another’s hat design and try to pass it off as their own?’ Marinette knew she should try and defuse the situation, not ramp it up. But dammit, she had gone too far with trying to say Marinette was a lesser being. Ladybug would not take this sitting down, or almost passing out from exhaustion.

  
Chloe took a visible step back as the words left her mouth. It seemed that she had finally found a chink in the amour that Chloe had surrounded herself with. Marinette felt a flicker of regret pass over her at the blonde’s reaction. But it was quelled when the look of defiance crossed Chloe’s face.

  
‘Ha! Who would want to copy you anyway? Clearly I only did that because I can recognize talent, even if its from a simple person like you. Who can’t even stay awake it class! Or talk to Adrien without stuttering!’ From the look on Chloe’s face, you could tell that she thought that she had the upper hand. Oh how wrong she was.

  
‘I stutter around Adrien, so what? At least I can have a two-way conversation with him. Rather then just grabbing his arm and hold him in place.’ Marinette shot back. She had had enough of this. She didn’t care, she was leaving.

  
Marinette moved to walk past Chloe, she didn’t want to argue, she was simply too tired and didn’t care enough to continue the fight. But when the angle of her world suddenly shifted and the ground rushed up to meet her face, she knew things wouldn’t end with just her walking away.

  
Adrien sprinted forward in the hope of trying to catch Marinette before she collided with the ground. He could hear Alya and Nino yell at Chloe. She had made no effort to hide the fact that she had tripped Marinette. Chloe simply turned and left, thinking that she had won the battle due to her underhanded tactics.

  
Adrien didn’t reach Marinette in time and his heart sank as he helplessly watched Marinette hit the ground. She had reacted fast enough to at least protect her face and chest, but the contents of her bag sprayed across the ground as Marinette just lay there, taking in what had happened in the blink of an eye. Adrien quickly scooped up her belongings before rushing to her side. He could feel Tikki burrow into his jacket, he spared a quick glance down to see Plagg grab the red Kwami and pull her into the safety of Adrien’s own clothes. They didn’t need a surprise reveal to happen after such an incident.

  
Marinette simply lay on the ground for a moment, taking in what had happened before slowly lifting herself into a sitting position. It wasn’t the worse fall that she had taken, but she had been completely unprepared for it, which made it all the more painful. She could feel that her senses were dulled from exhaustion and at that point she was kind of glad. She would simply deal with the pain later.

  
‘Mari?’ Adrien asked tentatively as he held her, now re-packed, bag out to her.

  
‘I’ve been better.’ She replied as she moved to stand up.

  
Adrien looped his hand under her arm to help her up. He couldn’t believe that Chloe had actually gone out of her way to hurt Marinette. He knew that she was a bad person, but this seemed a bit far.

  
‘I should have expected something like this to happen eventually.’ Marinette continued as she looked back to Alya and Nino who were still glaring at Chloe. She had hoped that something like this might not have happened, but it should have been expected considering both girls were trying to get Adrien’s attention. And at this point it was clear Marinette was winning.

  
‘Marinette are you ok?’ Nino turned to look at his two friends, glad to see that Adrien had stuck by Marinette’s side rather than Chloe’s.

  
‘I’m fine.’ Marinette smiled reassuringly, she didn’t need both her kitty and friends worrying about her.

  
Alya looked like she was about to burst and go on a rampage, but when Marientte placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, a smile on her face and shaking her head slightly, Alya calmed down. Even if she wanted to do something, if Marinette wasn’t fazed, she had no reason to be either.

  
‘Come on, lets get something to eat or at least get away from here.’ Marinette started to lead the way away from the group of onlookers and the school. She had had enough of being stared at.

  
Adrien was the first to move to follow Marinette, he didn’t really know if it was just from habit from following his Lady or the rising need to protect her. Adrien could hear Alya and Nino start to follow them, he didn’t bother to look back and check though, he was more concerned about catching up to Marinette.

  
‘Do you think Chloe will still turn into an akuma?’ Adrien whispered as he came level with Marinette.

  
She shrugged and looked up at her kitty, she could still see concern and even a little distress in his eyes. She felt awful that she was darkening his expression, but it didn’t stop the butterflies that flew in her stomach at the idea of Adrien truly caring for her. She had found that even after finding out that her Kitty and Adrien were the same, it didn’t change her feelings. If anything it made them stronger, because her partner had always been there for her. Right from the start the two of them had been working together. It was amazing to actually know the person behind the mask, even if one was a put together model and the other a crazy teenage boy.

  
‘I honestly don’t want to think about it until it happens.’ Marinette spoke softly, she didn’t know how far behind Alya and Nino were.

  
Adrien just nodded and looked ahead of him, he tried to look over his partner, trying to see if she might have been seriously hurt by the fall, he couldn’t really be certain, but he thought she was limping slightly.

  
‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ He just had to make sure.

  
Marinette couldn’t hold in the sigh that slipped through her lips, but she figured she might as well answer truthfully else he would never drop the subject.

  
‘My knee hurts as it hit the ground first, and my wrists are sore from the landing, but I didn’t hit my head too hard, so that’s good.’ She looked up to see anger cross Adrien’s face, she couldn’t help but blush in response, ‘But I will be okay, once we sit down somewhere and rest, I’ll be okay.’ She continued, she really didn’t need him to worry.

  
‘Where are we going?’Alya called from behind.

  
‘Home, I just want to lay down somewhere.’ Marinette turned to look at her best friend, she smiled gently when she noticed that two of her closest friends were holding hands.  
Nino gave her a thumbs up and turned to smile at Alya. Adrien was glad to see that his friend had finally gotten the courage to properly ask out Alya. He knew that he had been crushing on the blogger for a while now. Adrien couldn’t help but turn his attention back to Marinette, the sudden desire to be that close with his Lady coming to the forefront of his mind. He could have that now; Marinette was quickly over-coming her nerves. Maybe his dream of being with his Lady wouldn’t be too far away.

  
‘Marinette,’ Alya pulled up beside the wobbling girl, ‘have you taken all the photos down yet?’

  
Marinette shrugged and shook her head, Chat had dropped her off in her room already, he hadn’t said anything about the photos (although she didn’t know if he had seen them) but she didn’t care. She just wanted to lay down. Adrien could take the photos how ever he wanted, she had already blurted out that she had a massive crush on him. No point trying to hide it now.


	7. Snuggle Bug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette hates being tickled, Adrien gets a wink of approval and Alya has a POV

As they entered Marinette’s room, she couldn’t help but cringe a little at Nino’s whistle.

‘Marinette, I knew you had a crush on him, but… wow.’

Marinette didn’t bother turning around, she just grabbed a rug from her chaise and wrapped herself in it and plonked herself on the ground, stretching out. She noticed Alya move to sit on her computer chair with a smirk on her face but otherwise said nothing. Adrien was the last to enter the room, a blush dominating his cheeks. Although she noticed that it only deepened when he saw the picture of Ladybug and Chat Noir grinning at the camera next to her bed. The photo was near photos of her and Alya, and another of her family. Adrien looked to Marinette with stars in his eyes. Marinette could tell Alya was watching her, waiting to see her reaction but she simply smiled back. Glad that he could truly see just how much she cared about their partnership. She knew he had felt like he wasn’t needed. Had voiced as such in the past, but to her, he was the most important part of the team. She might cleanse the akuma, but he was generally the one that got it for her.

‘Can I play some music?’ Nino asked as he stood beside Alya, glancing at her computer repeatedly.

‘Sure.’

Nino’s eyes lit up as he grabbed another chair and moved next to Alya, finding the programs that he needed and started to fill the room with music. Adrien sat near Marinette a little awkwardly. He hadn’t been there often and so he didn’t really know what to do or where to sit. He looked down at Marinette and saw that she was watching him, she smiled but didn’t look away. Instead she rolled over, grabbed another blanket and handed it to him.

‘Wanna hang out on the floor?’ A blush covered her freckles in a lovely hue.

Adrien didn’t pause to think before he grabbed the blanket, sushi rolled himself in it and purposely rolled into Marinette. He was delighted when a giggle slipped through her lips and she simply rolled her eyes at him. A Chat Noir smirk covered his face as he wriggled around to sit up and flop over Marinette’s stomach. Pinning her to the floor, his smirk grew when a squeak escaped.

‘So,’ He looked her over, he could see mirth in her eyes, all the drowsiness that plagued her throughout the day gone again for the moment. ‘Are you ticklish?’ He wormed his arms out of the blanket and threateningly wriggled them at her.

Her eyes blew wide, oh hell no. He not going to try and pull something like that. She was not going to let him do this. She frantically started to try and get out from under him. She didn’t really want to be tickled, not with others in the room, and much less by the boy she majorly crushed on.

‘Adrien, go for her sides, that’s where she is most ticklish.’ Alya supplied, she didn’t even bother to look at the two on the ground.

Marinette just wined, exclaiming how could Alya betray her in such a way. Adrien just continued to grin and looked down at the soon to be victim of a tickle attack. He had never been happier, he was with his Lady and friends, and as he glanced up, he noticed Alya give him a quick wink and swiveled back around to watch Nino. Had he just received a wink of approval? Is that something that people do?

Either way, it was the last bit of encouragement he needed before he turned back to Marinette, a devious grin on his face.

‘Don’t you dare.’ Marinette threatened, her Ladybug like expression having no effect on him.

Adrien merely smirked and wiggled his fingers again, he was leaning on an elbow making sure that her torso was still pinned to the ground. Marinette had made the unfortunate mistake of re-tucking her arms back into the blanket. She had no defense against the boy on top of her. Her only defense was a glare and try to threaten him away. He didn’t seem to pay that any mind though as his hands descended onto her.

It lasted a total of 30 seconds before Marinette managed to buck him off, lightning fast she whipped her arms out and pinned Adrien’s to his sides. She wasn’t stronger than him, they both knew it, even with the power of Ladybug, Adrien could easily overpower her. Marinette could see that he was tensing to retaliate and try to tickle her again.

But her counter-attack was something he never saw coming.

Adrien couldn’t help but freeze as Marinette ducked her head down and brushed her nose against his own.

A kitten kiss.

His body flopped and a dumb-found smile broke free. His brain stopped working. He was sure he saw exploding fireworks somewhere above him. His brain had officially left his skull.

His Lady had just kissed him!

KISSED HIM

IN A CUTE KITTY WAY

He had died and gone to heaven.

Adrien lazily blinked up at Marinette as she giggled on top of him, her gentle smile reaching her eyes and lighting them in a way he had only seen a few times. Reserved for moments the two were truly happy and carefree.

‘You right there kitty?’ Marinette breathed still inches from his face.

For the first time since becoming Chat Noir, he felt something like a purr rumble in his chest. It was subtle, soft and he wasn’t even sure if it was a purr, as Plagg had warned him might appear. The shocked look and glance down to his chest from Marinette confirmed his hunch. The dazed grin that overtook Marinette’s face was beautiful.

‘Are you purring?’

His instinct was to purr louder, but he couldn’t, not with Alya and Nino so close by. So he settled for giving her a dopy grin, he honestly just wanted to rub his cheeks all over her. He had never really had such strong cat tendencies before. The only thing that came to mind was the fact that he was with his Lady and that he was relaxed. But even then, he knew that wouldn’t be appropriate to let those tendencies through. One of the main things that stopped him though would be if she would even handle him doing something like that.

‘Marinette, if you wanted us to leave,’ Alya’s voice drifted into their world. ‘you can just ask you know.’

Marinette couldn’t help but scramble off of Adrien, eventually hitting the chaise with a squeak. She could feel her face light up and couldn’t, wouldn’t, speak. All she could manage was to open and close her mouth and flail hopelessly.

Adrien let out a silent sigh, he had been making such progress with Marinette to have it all ruined by Alya. Although, it was probably their own fault as well for having a private moment with others in the room. He had honestly forgotten that they were there. Marinette’s kitten kiss and his purring had shrunk their world so only they were alive. Everything had shrunk to be only Ladybug and Chat Noir, coming together in moment that the two of them had never experienced before. Adrien eventually looked up to see that Alya was smirking at Marinette. After moving around, he glanced over to see that she had calmed down. To be honest, it looked like she was actually about to nod off.

‘Marinette?’ Adrien crawled over to her.

She was leaning against the chaise, her arms gently folded under her head. Adrien was surprised to see that she had undone her hair, the ribbons and hair ties discarded just to her left. He watched as she tried to find a comfortable position, but was clearly struggling to find a non-bony part to rest her head on. As he got closer he saw her eye crack open slightly. Ladybug was staring at him; he couldn’t help but freeze for a moment before he continued to move beside her.

‘Do you want to lean on me?’ He asked tentatively, he wasn’t sure how close he was allowed to get to her.

Marinette simply stared at him, so he took that as a yes and moved into position beside her. She waited until he had a pillow behind his back and the blanket wrapped comfortably around him. He had wriggled it up to under his arm pits, wrapping himself up enough that he could wriggle around if needed but kept the warmth trapped against his body. Once he was in position, he flashed her a quick grin.

To his complete shock (again) she just fell forward and let her head land in his lap. She snuggled up to him, her head flush against his stomach and unassumingly closed her eyes. Adrien didn’t really know what to do now. Was he allowed to touch her? Should he awkward try and use his phone?

What do you do when your Lady is resting on your lap?

‘She loves it when people play with her hair.’ Alya’s voice drew his attention. ‘She doesn’t look it, but she is the biggest snuggle bug you will ever find.’ Alya’s eyes were alight with something Adrien couldn’t read.

Her bug comment slightly panicked him though.

‘Yea man!’ Nino pipped up, not turning away from the computer. ‘At every slumber party we have ever been to, Marinette cuddles up to Alya.’ Nino turned to face Alya with a mildly blank expression. ‘I’m honestly surprised that you never pushed her away.’

Alya shrugged, ‘In winter she craves warmth, so there is no point moving away from her.’ Alya’s gaze moved to her friend when she noticed Adrien’s hand was gently stroking Marinette’s head.

She didn't think that she had ever seen the two of them so calm before. As she watched Marinette, she saw her best friend truly relax. All of the stress from the day leaving her. Alya knew that the girl had something bother her, but refused to talk to anyone about it. But watching her with Adrien, proved that Marinette could actually fully relax. Though it wasn’t Marinette that truly surprised her, it was Adrien. His attention was solely on the girl resting on his lap. One of his arms had snaked around her waist, his grip gentle but protective. He looked down at her best friend as if she was the most precious thing in his life. Alya knew she would never understand where that look originated from, but either way, she was glad it was directed at the most deserving girl on the planet.

Alya was glad to see that her best friend was starting to calm down around the blonde though. Over the past week Alya had thankfully watched Marinette’s stutter practically vanish. Only when she was startled would it return. Otherwise their conversations were easy and flowed like any other conversation. Alya still noticed her friend staring at the blonde, but the interesting thing had been that the blonde was starting to stare back as well. Similar to how he was looking at her now.

As much as she didn't want to intrude into her best friend’s love life. It was impossible not to notice the changes between the two. No one had noticed, but the two seemed to gravitate towards each other. Since that fateful day all those years ago. The two had always drifted together, through projects, extra curriculum activities, or just basic social interaction. Alya had never voiced this to Marinette, she didn't know how her bestie would react. Clearly though, something had finally changed between the two, and instead of constant near misses, things were starting to collide.

Now all she could hope for was LadyNoir to get a boat in the dock.

Because clearly the Adrinette ship was getting ready to set sail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think of this chapter! I had fun writing it even though its been so long since my last update.
> 
> Sorry about that by the way! I have been a bit flat out with Uni stuff and life. Soon though I will be out of action for everything but resting, so I hope to get a lot/ something written then.
> 
> This chapter brings you up to everything I have written. I have to work out where I want to go from here, so if you have any ideas don't hesitate to share them with me!
> 
> Thank you all so much for the amazing comments and kudos <3 I have not had such an encouraging reaction to a fic in such a LONG time <3
> 
> I'm on tumblr as well with the same user name if you ever want to chat as well!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first proper fic in a loooong time. So this is mildly edited (I suck at editing) and hasn't been completely finished but I do have some written. Please let me know what you think! 
> 
> This was written from a prompt - Secret Dating.
> 
> find me on tumblr - zgirlbooop


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